Nuclear power

A drive 30 minutes north of Omaha, Nebraska, leads to the Fort Calhoun nuclear power plant. It's full of new equipment. There's a white concrete box building that's still under construction. It's licensed until 2033. But the plant is closing Monday.

Nuclear power is expensive, especially when compared to some of the alternatives, so the U.S. nuclear power industry is shrinking. As more plants go offline, industry leaders are forced to reckon with what critics call a "broken system" for taking plants out of service and storing radioactive waste.

The Missouri Coalition for the Environment is one of several groups filing suit against the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to try to get the agency to address the long-term storage of nuclear waste.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has taken the only nuclear power plant in Kansas off of its special "watch list" for plants with problems needing closer scrutiny, but some new issues have arisen.

The NRC has listed Wolf Creek in the “degraded performance” category for more than a year. That’s the next-to-the-lowest of four ratings. Those problems have been resolved, and the plant has been upgraded to normal status.

Missouri's sole nuclear power plant is back online after being shut down for more than three weeks.

Ameren Missouri's Callaway Energy Center was taken off line July 26 after an electrical arc caused a small fire. The plant resumed operations Sunday morning. Spokesman Cleve Reasoner says the arc was triggered when a ventilation louver came loose and got too close to the power cables.

Kansas City, MO – Heavy equipment has started moving earth for the nearly $700 Million nuclear weapon parts plant in south Kansas City. Ground was broken this morning near the former Richards-Gebauer Air Force Base at Highway 150 and Botts Road. The complex is owned by the National Nuclear Security Administration.

Protestors walked and stood close to the job site where 25 hundred people are expected to work. Seven protestors were arrested and booked for disorderly conduct, accused of walking into the path of a VIP bus.

Kansas City, Mo. – Federal health officials arrive at the Banister Federal Complex today, the latest part of an ongoing investigation of possible hazards inside the General Services Administration's (GSA's) side of the complex. It's the first time health officials have been called in.